The Broken Veil
by MorganBanner
Summary: SEQUEL to "Beyond the Veil". The Shinigami-Wizard Alliance is at war on two fronts, ever since the Battle of Hogwarts ended. Sirius, now a full-fledged shinigami, is battling on the front lines, but soon is called back to face a problem that has haunted him since finding James. Then Sirius is faced with an impossible task, but one that could even change the course of the war.
1. I: Emergency

Embee: Aaaaand welcome back everyone! No, wait, _first_ of all, if you're a new reader, and have _not _read "Beyond the Veil", STOP HERE. Go back and read that one first. This is a **SEQUEL**.

Legolas: -cringes from epically echoing voice- ...this chapter is dedicated to **Haytang**, who managed to get Embee off her lazy bum and post the chapter.

Embee: Funny story, actually, she had been reviewing on "Beyond the Veil", and asked me on the last chapter "so when's the sequel?" To which I replied, "Sometime in the next few weeks". Then _she_ said, "Okay, I'll get my popcorn ready for next week!". Seeing her answer, I thought, 'well, crap, I better get moving'.

Legolas: We would also like to thank all of you readers for patiently waiting for the sequel.

Embee: But before you start reading, here's a special note:

**NOTE:** This fic is rated 'T' for language and violence. It is a **SEQUEL** to the story "Beyond the Veil", found on my page. In _this_ story, eight months have passed since the ending of "Beyond the Veil". And lastly, but most importantly because this will cover the entire story (because I'm too lazy to post it every single chapter):

**DISCLAIMER:** I highly doubt I could be two people at once. Therefore, I own neither the Bleach nor the Harry Potter franchise. I am simply toying with their characters for our amusement. The only things I own are the plot, Satoki, Oszlar, Lefu, and Karu no Riken. And anything else that might pop up randomly that does not belong in canon.

Now enjoy!

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**The Broken Veil: Emergency**

* * *

"Miyahara, Tsukino, take Captain Ukitake and get back to camp!" Sirius roared, blasting back an Arrancar that was trying to attack the fallen taicho. Ukitake had lasted many weeks on the frontlines, battling with his fukutaicho and a large unit made up of both wizards and shinigami, but his illness had finally struck at a most inopportune moment. "Williams, Donohue, Abing, Kozu, cover their retreat!"

The named fighters nodded and immediately raced to follow Sirius's orders.

"Sirius…I can keep fighting," Ukitake said weakly, struggling to stand on his own.

"Byakurai!" Sirius shouted after saying the incantation as fast as he could. "Sorry, sir, but we can't have you dying on us. I'll take care of it from here."

The moment the taicho was safely away from the battlefield, Sirius called a retreat. He led his forces back to the outskirts of the small Muggle village and did a quick headcount.

It was worse than he had feared. Originally, the unit had thirty members, both shinigami and wizard. He and Ukitake had been sent out to investigate a supposed sighting of an Espada, only to be ambushed the moment they entered the town. They were lucky to have safely evacuated most of the citizens, but at a heavy cost. Only thirteen remained of the original unit, including the ones who had escaped with Ukitake.

"Nakano, how many Arrancar are there?" Sirius asked.

A blond shinigami looked up from bandaging a heavily-wounded arm. "I think about ten, Vice-Captain Black. I'm not sure."

Sirius frowned. They were outnumbered by at least three. The only ray of light was that there was no sign of an Espada, although no one knew if Aizen had replaced the ones he had lost in the Battle of Hogwarts. If that was the case, then Sirius had no idea what the Espada would look like, or how powerful it was, and his unit would be doomed.

"Who is still okay to fight?" Sirius asked.

Everyone, even the wizards, who had been a little wary about having a former Azkaban escapee as their commander, raised a hand. Sirius was touched to see that many of them sported heavy injuries.

"Good, then partner up," Sirius said. "Let's take out as many of these Arrancar as possible."

Sensing the approach of their enemies, Sirius ran out from behind the house they had been hiding behind and charged, his unit right on his heels. Spells and Cero clashed against one another, causing miniature explosions. Soon an Arrancar fell, followed by a wizard.

The ensuing battle was chaotic and bloody. Sirius tried to be everywhere at once, fending off the Arrancar and trying not to lose any more of his subordinates. His thoughts blurred together, and the only thing that seemed real to him was the blood that covered the field.

Finally, it was over. One Arrancar, a thin black-haired woman with a horse-like mask that covered most of her face, had been left alive for questioning. Sirius was left with only five of his original unit.

"Who sent you here?" Sirius demanded, lowering the end of his staff until the snarling dog at the end was centimetres from the Arrancar's nose. The woman went cross-eyed trying to keep in within her vision. Exhaustion was making his head swim, but Sirius struggled not to let his arm tremble.

"Go to hell," the female Arrancar snarled, weakly clutching a fatal wound in her stomach.

Sirius's expression darkened. "I just lost nineteen good men to the Arrancar. Good friends, those people were. I have five others here with me, and they are sure as hell pissed off at you. The only thing keeping them from exterminating you right now like the vermin you are is _me_. You are not in a position to be difficult."

The Arrancar's pale blue eyes darted around and saw five grief-filled, furious faces. All of them still had a hand on their respective weapons. She swallowed nervously.

"Now I'm going to ask you again, _who sent you here?_" Sirius growled.

Before the Arrancar could answer, she suddenly stiffened.

_**SIRIUS, GET OUT OF THERE!**_

Sirius instinctively reacted to his Zanpakutou's shout. As the Arrancar's body began to glow, Sirius roared for his men to get away from her, erecting a Kidou barrier in an attempt to protect them. Seconds after he did so, the Arrancar vanished in a giant explosion that cracked the wall Sirius had created.

_What the hell was that?_ Sirius demanded, coughing in the debris-filled air. "Unit, report!" he shouted hoarsely, hoping that his men had gotten away in time.

_**It appears that she was…programmed, for lack of a better word, to explode to prevent leaking any information,**_ Karu no Riken growled.

"Vice-Captain Black, help!" one voice called, and Sirius immediately ran to answer. He found two of his soldiers crowding around a third.

"Wood is badly hurt," one of the men said, looking up at Sirius's approach. Sirius was relieved to see that the young wizard had managed to escape the worstthe blast. The other man, this one a shinigami, was also relatively unhurt.

Sirius only wished he could have said the same of the woman laying the rubble of a house.

Jennah Wood, a pretty witch with auburn hair, had been too slow to avoid the full blast and get under cover of Sirius's Kidou wall. Her left arm had been blown off, and terrible burns covered her left side.

"We need to stop her bleeding," Sirius said, building a Kidou barrier to try and keep Wood stable. It was a weak barrier, as Sirius was no good with healing Kidou, but it would keep Wood alive for a few minutes at the most. "Yao, contact the Soul Society and demand immediate recall. Give them the code Twin Fish 1344U," Sirius ordered and tossed the shinigami a cell phone. "Dreesen, close the wound. We may be able to save her."

The other two survivors had yet to respond to Sirius's call, but he couldn't concern himself about them now. He had to focus on the ebbing life in front of him.

"Stay with me Wood," Sirius said, attempting to give the woman something to focus on. "Don't you dare die on me, that's an order. Remember your son, Alfie? He's a first year at Hogwarts. You told me this morning you got a letter from him a few days ago, telling you about his new friend, Mark."

Yao returned the phone to Sirius. "Sir, the Soul Society is sending a team to get us. They've sent another to retrieve Captain Ukitake. I have also told them about the evacuees. A third team will care of the mortals."

Sirius nodded, not taking his eyes off the faintly breathing Wood. Dreesen was working furiously to close Wood's wounds and stop the bleeding, his wand glowing.

"Where are Nakano and Sirois?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know, sir, they haven't responded."

Inwardly, Sirius swore. "When the retrieval team gets here, we'll search for them. Be on the alert, there may still be Arrancar about."

"Yes, sir."

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the retrieval team to arrive, although for Sirius, it felt like years.

"See to Wood," Sirius said once the shinigami and wizards began pouring from the senkaimon. "She's lost her arm and a lot of blood."

Immediately three Fourth Divisioners appeared by her side and began their work. The rest of the team began combing the ruined village for any survivors, both ally and enemy.

"Vice-Captain Black!"

Sirius turned around at the call of his name. He recognized Hanatarou from the Fourth Division racing towards him.

"Your presence is required immediately in the Captain's meeting hall," the young man said, panting a little.

"I still have two men missing, I will return when I've found them" Sirius said stubbornly.

Hanatarou frowned a little nervously. "Um, Captain-Commander Yamamoto said that we will recover your missing people. You need to return _immediately_."

Sirius briefly toyed with the idea of simply ignoring the orders. Then he decided that he didn't want to have Hanatarou punished because of him. Or have either of them fried.

"Fine," Sirius finally answered, resealing his Zanpakutou before sheathing it. He winced when the action irritated his broken ribs. They were one of many wounds gained during the battle.

_I wonder what the old Captain-Commander wants so badly that I can't even heal myself first,_ Sirius thought as he wove through the crowd of people to reach the still-open senkaimon.

_**There are plenty of Fourth Divisioners and healers here. Have one heal your wounds before you continue,**_ Karu no Riken said. _**I will not allow you to return before you do so,**_ she added when she sensed that Sirius was about to refuse.

Sighing, Sirius complied with his Zanpakutou's wishes. He pulled over the first healer he saw and asked her to at least close his wounds. Unfortunately, Karu no Riken wouldn't be satisfied until his ribs were repaired, bones were reset, and his numerous cuts and scrapes cared for. It was another thirty-five minutes before Sirius could go through the gate.

_If Yamamoto's mad because I'm late,_ Sirius thought warningly, _I'm blaming you._

Karu no Riken only chuckled.

Sirius hurried through the Precipice World and out into the Soul Society. He was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer mass of people, both shinigami and wizards, on the other side. Attacks were occurring all the time, and the main senkaimon was constantly being used.

After weaving his way through the mob, Sirius Shunpo'd the rest of the way to the First Division.

_I _really_ hope it isn't anything too bad,_ Sirius thought, hesitating before actually entering the meeting hall. He had rarely been called into that hall for any good reasons, the last one being his promotion to a fukutaicho.

_**Perhaps it is about…**_

_I swear I had nothing to do with the purple biscuits! It wasn't my fault!_

_**Says the one who decided not to eat biscuits that morning before even seeing them,**_ Karu no Riken noted.

_Oh, come on, you have to admit it was pretty funny,_ Sirius retorted, trying to lead the conversation away from his possible involvement with the incident. _We'd go mad if we didn't have something to lighten the mood occasionally. We don't have to be in a war mindset all the time._

_**Do remember that your little prank sent the entire Soul Society into a total lockdown, thinking that Aizen had poisoned the food supply.**_

_Okay, _that_ was unexpected,_ Sirius said as he slid the door open. There was no sense in delaying it any longer.

"Captain Ukitake! How are you feeling?" Sirius exclaimed, glad to see that his taicho had managed to make it to the meeting, although the man looked pale. Ukitake smiled a little weakly and pointed to his ear. Sirius suddenly remembered that he still had his translator, something that had become as second-nature as his Zanpakutou after days of constant use, and quickly removed it.

Sirius quickly ran his eyes down the line, and was a little worried to see that every single taicho was present, even Ikkaku, who hated fulfilling his taicho duties. All of them looked tired and strained.

The war had taken its toll on everyone.

"Black Sirius-fukutaicho, you have been called to this meeting to address a serious matter," Yamamoto began, ignoring the slight snicker from Sirius at the poor word choice. "You are aware that when a wizard dies, he or she loses all reiatsu, correct?"

Sirius nodded, feeling a little hopeful that there had been no mention of the infamous Purple Biscuit Lockdown incident…that he had absolutely nothing to do with. "Yes, Yamamoto-soutaicho."

"You are an exception to this, as you have miraculously not only survived becoming a shinigami, but you have also risen to become a fukutaicho," Yamamoto continued. Sirius frowned, biscuits forgotten, wondering where this was going. "You also have your memories completely intact, something that no former wizard has after arriving at the Soul Society. In our past studies of wizard souls, it was discovered that if a wizard's soul were to regain his or her memories…they would also regain their powers and that reiatsu would unravel, eventually killing the soul."

A sickening feeling filled Sirius.

_They couldn't be talking about…James…could they? No, both he and Lily were perfectly fine the last time we saw them…and that was just a few weeks ago!_

_**I highly doubt that James would allow you to see any form of weakness, not when you have so many responsibilities to see to and are worrying about an entire war.**_ Karu no Riken stated, but her unease filtered through her thoughts.

Unaware of the fear that was now gripping Sirius, Yamamoto continued speaking, "While you have shown none of these effects, it has come to our attention that another former wizard has regained his memories and is displaying symptoms of Hollowfication." Yamamoto paused and opened a single red eye to fix Sirius with a hard stare. "You know a Potter James, correct?"

It was stated more like a fact, rather than a question. Sirius nodded stiffly, not trusting himself to speak.

"Potter James has begun to Hollowfy as a result of regaining his memories, and this process is irreversible," Yamamoto said emotionlessly. "Black Sirius-fukutaicho, you are ordered to execute Potter James by twenty-three hundred. If you have not complied by then, an execution team will be sent out to finish the job. Understood?"

Sirius felt as though the ground had suddenly given away beneath him. He barely felt himself nod and slowly walk out of the hall. He barely heard Ukitake calling out to him, or the sympathetic murmurs from Unohana and a few others. Everything was as in a daze, and Sirius found himself praying that this was some nightmare.

_James, Hollowfying? That can't be possible!_ Sirius silently exclaimed. _Wizard souls don't Hollowfy like that…and besides, he's had most of his memory for months now, why…_

_**You knew something like this would eventually happened,**_ Karu no Riken chided. _**But you ignored it. Now the day of reckoning has arrived, and there is nothing you can do.**_

Sirius stopped and shook his head. _Do you want me to kill my best friend?_

_**Of course not!**_ Karu no Riken snarled, making Sirius wince from the force of her voice. _**But what else is there? You cannot reverse the transformation once it has begun!**_

_Kurosaki Ichigo survived it,_ Sirius pointed out. _And the Vizard did too._

_**You forget, Black Sirius, that Kurosaki Ichigo is far from a normal individual. He is neither human, nor Hollow, nor shinigami. You cannot compare him to a normal human soul.**_

_James was a wizard!_

Karu no Riken continued, ignoring Sirius's interruption. _**The Vizard were all powerful shinigami to begin with, and they had the help of Urahara Kisuke. The moment James entered the Soul Society he became a normal human soul, with very low reiatsu. He could never survive the Hollowification process.**_

Sirius scowled and punched the wall next to him, making it crack slightly. He winced when blood began to roll down his fist.

_I will _not_ give up on James!_

_**This is not a matter of giving up, Sirius! There is **_**nothing**_** you can do!**_Karu no Riken roared. _**Do remember that I am a part of your soul. James is as much my friend as he is yours. I do not want to do this anymore than you do!**_

Anger coursed through Sirius. _You have a funny way of showing your reluctance, Karu no Riken. If you really _are_ a part of my soul, then you should be just as stubborn as I am about this._

The sudden rush of reiatsu caused Sirius to flinch, and he felt almost as if the dog was pressing her heavy paws on his shoulders, digging her claws into his skin.

_**Do not dare assume I am uncaring, Black Sirius,**_ the dog snarled. _**I am simply facing reality, something that you refuse to do because you are blinded by your emotions. Killing James is the kindest thing you can do for him. Would you rather he became a Hollow because you were too **_**weak**_** to stop him, and then killed by uncaring shinigami?**_

Silence reigned in Sirius's mind for a few moments. The rational part of his mind knew that Karu no Riken was right, no matter what his personal feelings about the matter were. It was his job, not only as a shinigami, but as James's friend to stop James before things got out of hand. But Sirius didn't think he would have the strength to actually _kill_ James.

_I…I have to see James first,_ Sirius finally said after a long pause. Karu no Riken growled. She knew Sirius was trying to delay having to kill James, but she didn't push the matter any further. If she did, she would only succeed in pushing Sirius further away, and he may even block her entirely from his mind.

Sirius began walking again, dragging his feet to extend the journey. He kept his eyes fixed on the ground and ignored any greetings directed to him by passersby.

He nearly flew right over the wall when someone put a hand on his shoulder.

"Padfoot, we've called you three times now, what could _you_ possibly be thinking about so hard?"

Sirius grinned when he turned around and saw Bokor Oszlár and Moguru Satoki standing behind him. Oszlár had a large black eye patch over the right side of his face, covering the heavily scarred skin from his battle with Ulquiorra. He still wore his wooden charms and ear piercings, but his hair was now long enough to be tied back in a low ponytail.

Satoki looked almost exactly as she did the last time Sirius had seen the pair of them, over six months ago. Her narrow black eyes watched Sirius coldly, and her angular face was expressionless. Like always, her hair was tied back in a narrow black braid. And although she appeared unarmed, Sirius knew that if he were to suddenly attack her, she would have hundreds of weapons and instruments of torture in her hands before Sirius could take two steps.

Not that Sirius was stupid enough to do such a thing.

"Prongs, Fang, what are you two doing here?" Sirius asked, dragging his two unwilling friends into a giant bear hug. "Last I heard from you, you were stationed at an outpost in Germany."

"We were," Satoki answered, twisting Sirius's arm behind his back to make him let her go. "However, we were recalled by Kuchiki-taicho."

Sirius gave Satoki and Oszlár a curious look as he rubbed his ribs, which were aching again because of Satoki's reaction. "Why?"

At Sirius's question, both Oszlár and Satoki shot each other undecipherable looks. Oszlár looked back at Sirius and began slowly,

"Well…we heard…"

"Hey, White! I finally found you," another voice cut across, interrupting whatever Oszlár had been about to say. "Oh, look, you found Demon-Girl and Shorty too!"

Oszlár glared at the man approaching them, while Satoki simply ignored him. Ureftu Lefu just smirked at Oszlár's expression, and ruffled the shorter boy's hair when he got close enough.

"I'll have you know, I've grown a little," Oszlár said hotly.

Both Sirius and Lefu snorted. Then Lefu pretended to look serious as he held out a hand and measured Oszlár. "Hmmm…nope, I thought not. This little strand of hair doesn't count for your height, Shorty," he added, pulling out the stray string of hair.

Sirius openly laughed at the furious look on Oszlár's face. He hadn't seen Lefu for almost as long as the other two, as the tall black man was now head of a research department in the Twelfth Division, and couldn't leave the Soul Society very much. Other than a thick scar that crossed his shaved head, a token from fighting in the Battle of Hogwarts, and several newer burns on his arms and face, Lefu looked the same.

"So, White, I heard James is on the death row," Lefu said, earning him vicious glares from Satoki and Oszlár. "What are we going to do to save him?"

* * *

Embee: -plays dramatic music- We're jumping right into the action with this one, how about that?

Legolas: -stomach growls- Can we eat breakfast now?

Embee: No. Anyway, another little note that I didn't want to add at the beginning...but I've shuffled the positions around in the Gotei 13. Ikkaku was forced to be the Ninth Division taicho, because his Bankai was revealed at Hogwarts, but he'll be allowed to return to the Eleventh once a 'better candidate' is found. Renji was made taicho of the Fifth, and Rukia took his place in the Sixth. Hinamori was forcibly retired until her mental state is more stable and was replaced by her third seat (I may or may not come up with a name for him...unless we actually know who he is). And I decided that Kira managed to attain Bankai during the battle at Hogwarts (after training for decades), and was made the Third Division taicho. Why did I do all that? There was a giant power vaccuum in the Gotei 13, and with a full-out war against two different enemies, they can't have that. So Yamamoto got off his lazy butt and filled the vaccuum, like he _should_ have done canonically.

Legolas: I heard your stomach growl. It is time for breakfast.

Embee: That was _your_ stomach. This is why you should have eaten dinner.

Legolas: I was unconscious!

Embee: I _did_ warn you that I may or may not have spilled an unidentified chemical on the muffins you made. But you ate them anyway.

Legolas: You _made_ me.

Embee: -ignoring- Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!


	2. II: Loss of a Friend

Embee: ...hello, readers... -pushes Shiny Elf Dude in front of her- NO TOMATOES PLEASE

Legolas: ...what are you doing?

Embee: I know what I said...like two weeks ago...maybe...but a lot of stuff popped between then and now, and I've hardly had any time even to write. I did NOT expect my summer schedule to be so crazy.

Legolas: I _did_ warn you, but you ignored me...like always. What have we learned now?

Embee: -is ignoring Legolas- Thank you so much for patiently waiting, and for the wonderful reception of the first chapter! I was practically drowning in the alerts that came in when I posted the first chapter, and it made me a very happy writer!

Legolas: -mutters- One of these days she's going to get herself killed because she _refuses_ to listen to what other people say...

Embee: -is still ignoring the SED- So before I let you off to read the chapter, I'm going to let you know that updates will be sporadic, at least until schools starts back up again and my schedules settles. Also, I'd like to announce my new beta reader **Lady Avotil**, who has kindly agreeded to beta'ing my chapters! Now enjoy~

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**The Broken Veil: Loss of a Friend**

* * *

"You idiot!" Oszlár growled, smacking Lefu. "We were trying to approach the topic _delicately_. Sirius has been ordered to _kill_ James!"

Lefu scowled, rubbing his arm and hoping nothing had fractured. For a shrimp, Oszlár could pack one hell of a punch.

"I _know_ that," Lefu said.

Before he could continue, Sirius interrupted, trying to avoid the exact topic of his mission by any means possible. "Actually, I was going to ask about that. How the _hell_ did you three find out about my mission? _I_ just found out."

Lefu gave Sirius a pitying look. "Kurotsuchi-taicho has every single square centimetre of the Soul Society, and many mortal cities as well, bugged. You wouldn't _believe_ some of the places he has cameras…"

Almost immediately, Oszlár turned green. "I don't want to know."

"I found out how to hack into his cameras about four months ago," Lefu continued as if he had never been interrupted, "and even how to set up my own line of cameras."

Satoki's eyes narrowed, and Lefu hurriedly continued before she could turn violent.

"It's not what you think!" he said. "I just set up some cameras to track _you_ three, seeing as how I almost never leave the labs these days…but I was watching the taicho meeting the entire time. Any meeting that calls for every single taicho in the middle of a war _has_ to be about something interesting."

Sirius was admittedly impressed, if a little suspicious that Lefu had bugged all the women's baths. "Isn't that a little dangerous? I highly doubt Kurotsuchi-taicho would be pleased to find out that his cameras have been hacked into."

The black man was surprisingly unconcerned. "He'd never expect me to try doing that, much less succeed, and I make sure to cover my tracks. I can always say it was to monitor the wizards in the Soul Society and see the effect of the reiatsu on their magic if I'm caught."

A little unnerved at the ease in which Lefu spoke of outright stalking, Sirius turned to the other two.

"So what are _you_ two doing here?" he asked. "How did you find out about James? You were both in Germany for some secret mission, and haven't had _any_ contact with the Soul Society."

Satoki shrugged. "We were recalled by Kuchiki-taicho approximately four hours ago. He described to us the situation. Our mission was complete, and we were due to return soon anyway."

From the sharp look Oszlár gave Satoki, Sirius wondered about the truthfulness of her statement.

"We were sent back to ensure you did nothing rash," Satoki continued, ignoring Oszlár's look, "something you would have most definitely done if left with _him_."

"Oi! I do not act _rashly_!" Lefu exclaimed, while Sirius shouted something similar. Satoki merely rolled her eyes. "I thought this through very carefully! So White, how are we rescuing James?" he said, suddenly changing the topic.

Oszlár interrupted. "I thought you watched the taicho meeting. James…is Hollowfying. _There's nothing we can do_. The process is irreversible!"

Sirius said nothing; he could hear Karu no Riken growling at the back of his mind.

Rolling his eyes, Lefu heaved a theatrical sigh. "And who told you _that_?"

"It is common knowledge that the Hollowfication process is irreversible," Satoki said coldly. "We must kill James before he runs rampant and harms innocent souls."

"Yes, it's irreversible, but it _is_ survivable," Lefu said. "I can name several people who survived the process."

Sirius frowned. He himself had had the same line of thinking. "But they were all powerful shinigami. James is just a normal soul," he said, repeating what Karu no Riken had told him.

"Yes, but _who_ is the one who has spent the past eight months studying wizards?" Lefu asked. "Souls are attacked by Hollows all the time, and even absorb some of the Hollow's reiatsu. Shorty here is a prime example. With what I've studied, we can find a way to save James."

Even Satoki looked shocked at Lefu's words. Sirius himself hardly dared to believe what Lefu was saying.

"Are you sure?" he said breathlessly. If they could save James…Sirius wouldn't have to lose his best friend for the second time.

Lefu smiled. "Positive."

A wide grin split Sirius's face, and he felt a sudden weight lift off his shoulders. "Then what are we waiting around here for? We have to hurry!"

Then Sirius began immediately Shunpo'ing away, so eager to reach James in time that he didn't even look to see if his friends were following.

Oszlár stopped Lefu before the black man could run after James.

"_How_ sure?" he hissed, his hand tightening on Lefu's upper arm. Satoki paused before Shunpo'ing to hear what Lefu would have to say.

"If I had to put a number on it…5%," Lefu admitted, knowing that Oszlár would hold him there until he gave the truth.

"You cannot give Black false hope," Satoki warned. "That will hurt him more than having to kill his friend."

Lefu scowled. "I _know_. But even if there was only a 1% chance of saving James, I would still try it. We've all gotten to know James now; he's as much our friend as he is Sirius's."

"Then you had better hope that you succeed," Oszlár said, his one remaining eye glittering dangerously. "If you don't…Satoki, Lefu, I want you to take Sirius and Lily-san back to the Seireitei."

Oszlár sighed and lowered his hand.

"I…will kill James."

OoOoOoOoO

Already several miles from the other three, a similar argument was happening within Sirius's mind.

_**You cannot believe what Lefu is telling you!**_

_Why not?_ Sirius protested. _He's spent over half a year studying wizards, he knows more than anyone about a wizard's reiatsu after death. If anyone could find even the slightest chance of helping James, then it's him._

_**Six months is nothing compared to the centuries of research the Soul Society has on wizards.**_

And so it continued. Finally, Sirius closed his mind to Karu no Riken, and took to ignoring her.

Satoki, Oszlár, and Lefu caught up just as Sirius was entering the East 80th District. They wore similar grim masks, and even Lefu was oddly silent.

The moment Sirius touched down in the District, a wave of mangled reiatsu hit him, forcing him to stop. Oszlár fell to his knees, his face twisted in pain, and one hand on his eye-patch.

It was the foulest reiatsu Sirius had ever felt, and so powerful that he could see the souls of the District beginning to faint in the streets. It felt twisted and evil, darker than even Ulquiorra's reiatsu had been.

But beneath that, Sirius sensed the briefest flash of James.

"No…"

Forcing himself to his feet, Sirius took off.

"We…have…to follow him," Oszlár ground out around gritted teeth. Satoki slung his arm around her neck and helped him to stand. The redhead was so intent on staying conscious he couldn't even blush at the contact.

Lefu frowned, concerned about his friend's violent reaction to the reiatsu. It was disgusting, making even Lefu want to retch, but there should be no reason for a shinigami like Oszlár, who had fought an Espada, to experience _pain_.

Soon they were catching up to Sirius, who was racing towards the outskirts of the District. Giant flares of dark reiatsu were already flashing on the horizon, horrifyingly near where James and Lily made their home.

"Hurry!" Sirius shouted, Shunpo'ing as fast as he could.

_Please don't be James,_ Sirius prayed to whatever deity was listening. _Please just be some powerful Hollow…I'd even be thankful for a couple of Espada!_

Unfortunately, if any deity had heard Sirius's prayer, they were leaving the former wizard to the whims of fate.

"JAMES!"

James was kneeling a few feet outside his destroyed hut, his hands clutching his head. One of them had been horribly mutated into a claw. Lily lay in the wreckage of the building, unconscious and bleeding heavily from a stomach wound. The reiatsu Sirius had felt at the border of the District only got heavier as he got closer, and James's scream was beginning to deepen and take on a watery quality. Sickly-looking reiatsu swirled around him, and James continued to mutate before his eyes.

_**He is Hollowfying, you **_**must**_** kill him before he completes the process!**_ Karu no Riken roared, breaking through whatever barrier Sirius had set up to block her thoughts.

"No…the process is happening too quickly," Lefu said when he arrived, his eyes wide. "Even for a wizard…all our past experiments have shown that it takes _days_ for the process to complete!"

Sirius ignored Lefu and tried to wade through the reiatsu to reach James. It was like walking through pudding.

"James!" Sirius shouted, hoping that his voice would reach his friend. "JAMES!"

"Would…being…around Sirius…affect it?" Oszlár panted. He had become very pale, and his entire body was shaking. If Satoki were to release Oszlár, he would crumple to the ground.

Lefu frowned, thinking. "Possibly…" he began slowly. "I've done some tests on Sirius's reiatsu…and his spiritual power is like nothing I've ever seen. It's like a hybrid between wizardly power and shinigami reiatsu. His reiatsu is greatly unstable, constantly eating away at itself and replenishing itself almost at the same rate."

"_What?"_ both Satoki and Oszlár exclaimed.

"We know that the reiatsu of a wizard soul causes the reiatsu around it to deteriorate, which is why it was decided in the past to erase a wizard's memories," Lefu continued. "If the memories were regained, the soul's powers would return, and its reiatsu would end up destroying it. I still don't know why, or how, Sirius has survived this long, but over-exposure to his reiatsu may have accelerated James's process…" Lefu began muttering to himself. "But this isn't possible…when they mentioned James Hollowfying, I thought he had been attacked…but this…this is different from any Hollowfication _I've_ seen…"

Oszlár shakily pushed Satoki away and tried to stand on his own. He was swaying a little, but remained standing.

"We…have to…help him…" Oszlár gasped, and then suddenly fell to the ground. Lefu stared with wide eyes at the sight of Satoki calmly catching the redhead and gently laying him on the ground.

"You knocked him out?"

Satoki levelled Lefu with a cool stare. "He would only be in the way," she said coldly, but Lefu could hear the concern behind her icy façade. Oszlár would have gotten himself hurt if he tried approaching James, if simply standing nearby was causing him that much pain.

Meanwhile, Sirius was still trying to get through to James.

"James, James!" Sirius fell to his knees at James's side, and tried shaking his shoulder. "Can you hear me? It's me, Sirius! Snap out of it!"

For a moment, James's screams stopped, and he looked up at Sirius. Sirius's blood ran cold when he saw James's formerly warm hazel eyes had turned yellow, and his sclera had become black.

Then James gave an ear-shattering screech that forced Sirius to cover his ears in pain. A sudden wave of dark reiatsu exploded, covering James's form and blasting Sirius back. Sirius was thrown into Lefu, who had been racing to help Sirius with Satoki.

"Satoki, get Lily!" Sirius roared, seeing the wave of reiatsu expanding. Satoki didn't even spare time to nod before vanishing. Lefu quickly erected a Kidou barrier after snatching up the unconscious Oszlár to protect them as the heavy spiritual power flooded towards them.

A woman's scream shattered the air, but Sirius couldn't tell if it was Lily or Satoki. It was followed by a deep, feral roar that seemed to make the very air vibrate with its power. Then suddenly, the reiatsu was cleared, and Sirius was forced to look upon the monster his friend had become.

There was nothing left for even Sirius to recognize. James had grown taller and bulkier, but his skin was scaly and black. Two long, thick tails waved behind him, and there was just a fragment of his kimono fluttering about his thick waist. His head had elongated into a reptilian form, and a pair of sabre-like fangs jutted down from his upper jaw. The creature James had become turned and locked eyes with Sirius, who struggling to hold back his nausea at the twisted state of James's reiatsu.

A pair of cold, black eyes looked out from a white mask. Several horns sprouted from the top of the mask like antlers.

"_Ssssiriusss,"_ the creature hissed in an unfamiliar voice. _"I thank you for freeing me…for that…I will allow you to live…today. But…if we meet again…I will kill you."_

Before Sirius could react, the creature vanished. A heavy weight Sirius didn't know had been pressing down on him suddenly lifted from his shoulders, and he fell to his knees with relief. With the absence of the monster's disgusting reiatsu, Sirius could breathe easier.

"JAMES!" Sirius roared, refusing to believe that his best friend had just become a Hollow.

_**Worry about him later, you have three hurt people to be concerned about now,**_ Karu no Riken admonished, bringing Sirius back to the present.

"Lefu, see what's wrong with Oszlár," Sirius ordered, forcing himself to his feet, although he would much rather sit there and scream at the sky. It felt like that one terrible Halloween night, when he had discovered the Potters dead, and Pettigrew the traitor. Sirius forced any thought of James from his mind so he could focus. "Lily! Satoki!"

Sirius felt his heart stop when no answer was heard. He rushed over to the ruined hut, where he had sent Satoki to retrieve the injured Lily, hoping desperately that neither of them had been killed.

He froze when he saw the two figures lying in the wreckage. Lily was curled up around her wounded stomach, a puddle of blood slowly spreading around her, and the only thing keeping her from being crushed from a fallen beam was Satoki. The black-haired girl had probably thrown herself in harm's way to protect Lily, but it had resulted in Satoki herself becoming trapped under the beam. Sirius could tell from the way her right arm was hanging that it was broken, and he wouldn't have been surprised if she broke her leg and several ribs as well.

But that wasn't the worst of it. The blast of reiatsu from James's transformation had set numerous fires to the wood, leaving horrendous burn marks everywhere else. Satoki herself had obviously been caught in the brunt of it, as the side of her that wasn't trapped under the beam was blackened with burns.

"LEFU!" Sirius shouted, pulling out his emergency phone to rapidly type a message to Unohana. "GET OVER HERE!"

Both Satoki and Lily were quickly fading, and Sirius was unsure if either of them would survive if the Fourth Division took too long to arrive.

* * *

Embee: Lot's of action in this one, and hopefully worth the wait.

Legolas: It is very fast-paced.

Embee: Yeah, I said something about that last chapter. Less setup = we get right into the action. Things will slow a bit after a few chapters, and then it will pick up again. Interestingly enough, this is usually how my personal stories start...

Legolas: We will see you again next chapter...whenever that will be.

Embee: Oi! I am very busy! You should know, because I'm dragging you everywhere!


	3. III: Mission of Death

Embee: And after a long wait, we're back with the third chapter!

Legolas: -waves flag-

Embee: You're _supposed_ to be enthusiastic.

Legolas: I'm exhausted. You made me stay up ALL NIGHT so we could watch the Olympics live.

Embee: It's part of the Olympic experience. Be glad you're taking part in such a tradition.

Legolas: Zzz...

Embee: I _suppose_ I'll let him sleep. Now where's the Sharpie...

* * *

**The Broken Veil: A Mission of Death**

* * *

Sirius paced in the waiting room of the Fourth Division Hospital, a difficult thing to do when numerous other people struggled to do the same thing. Lefu had sprawled himself over two of the chairs, looking as if he were simply waiting for the next meal, although the way his fingers tapped the arm of the chair betrayed his agitation.

They were only two of many who were waiting for news of friends and family. Ever since the war with Voldemort and Aizen began with the Battle of Hogwarts, the number of casualties quickly increased. Several war hospitals had been set up in various places in the mortal world, staffed by wizards and shinigami alike, to accommodate the many wounded. Every single one of the hospitals was over-crowded with patients. In addition, it was still unsure if the two enemies of the Shini-Wizard alliance were still working together, so allies considered themselves at war on two sides. Attacks from Aizen and Voldemort were separate and seemingly in conflict with each other, and the Shinigami-Wizard alliance was hard-pressed to keep up with the skirmishes.

And still, the enemy generals had yet to make an appearance. Instead, the shinigami and wizards were forced to fend off innumerable attacks by large groups of weak fighters, annoying, but taxing on the alliance.

Finally, someone came for Sirius and Lefu. Both of them practically tackled the poor Fourth Divisioner when she approached.

"Y-you c-can s-s-see them n-now," the young girl stuttered, shocked at the sudden assault of questions from both men.

They were gone before she had even finished speaking.

OoOoOoOoO

After being admonished about running in the hallways four times and nearly running over people twice, Sirius reached into his pocket and tied on his fukutaicho badge.

People stopped bugging them after that, and simply moved out of their way.

Sirius and Lefu ran into Oszlár's room first, as it was the closest after leaving the stairs. Lily and Satoki were in a room together on the other end of the hall.

"Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed when he saw the redhead sitting up in his bed and looking perfectly healthy, if a little pale. Oszlár frowned when his two friends lumbered into the room with as much noise as a couple of drunk Hollows.

"I'll have you know, there _are_ people on this floor attempting to rest, and all that noise is _not_ helping," he said. "Don't make Unohana-taicho come up here."

Both Lefu and Sirius shuddered at the mention of the terrifying taicho. Then Sirius noticed that Oszlár's eye patch had been replaced with a thick wrapping of bandages.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern. "Lefu told me what happened…did you hurt your eye?"

Oszlár's face closed up. "No…I'm fine."

The instinctive flinching of Oszlár's hand towards his face didn't escape Sirius's notice, although the hand went immediately back down to the bed to clutch at the sheets. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Oszlár had completely lost his blind eye. Instead of getting a false eye, even after the damage to his face had been fully healed, Oszlár had opted for a giant eye patch that covered almost all the skin on the right side. Ever since then he had been oddly sensitive about his wound, and actually seemed blind on the right side. Even before, Oszlár had acted and fought like he had perfect vision, but now he flinched if anything came anywhere near his blind side.

"I can't believe you fainted so quickly," Sirius said, smiling to hide his suspicions. "That was worse than what _I_ did back at the Academy."

Oszlár scowled, but was prevented from retorting by Sirius suddenly spinning around and walking out of the room.

"I'm going to check on Fang and Lily," he said as he left.

Lefu made as if to follow Sirius, but Oszlár stopped him.

"Lefu…what happened?" the redhead asked quietly.

After a moment's hesitation, Lefu turned back around and answered.

"You were barely conscious. I don't know why, but for some reason Jame…the Hollow's reiatsu was affecting you badly. Satoki knocked you out to keep you safe."

"Then James Hollowfied." It was not a question.

Lefu nodded. "It was horrible, like a mutated Vasto Lorde, but it still had a full mask." He shuddered at the memory of the monster. "Its reiatsu was disgusting…even_ I_ had a hard time keeping my stomach down. It was worse than any Espada. The creature had intelligence like a Vasto Lorde, and even spoke to Sirius, saying that it was going to let him go, but that it would kill Sirius if they met again."

Oszlár was quiet for a moment, before asking, "What happened to Satoki-san?"

Another hesitation, this time longer. "She…was hurt very badly…trying to save Lily."

Almost immediately, Oszlár struggled to get out of his bed. It was obvious that even such a simple action was draining. Lefu, knowing that even if he ordered the redhead to stay put, Oszlár would have ignored him.

So he did the only logical thing to do in such a situation. He kidnapped him.

"I can walk on my own!" Oszlár exclaimed when Lefu carelessly tossed the redhead over his shoulder.

"Sure you can. And I'd have to drag you along by your ears when you fainted," Lefu said easily. "Come on, let's go."

Lefu ignored Oszlár's protests, and the strange looks he received from passersby, as he carried the injured boy down the hall. He found Sirius hesitating outside of the door to the room that held their other two friends.

"You going to open that any time soon?" Lefu asked, making Sirius jump. "This lug isn't getting any lighter."

"I'm not that heavy!" Oszlár protested weakly, his blood rushing to his head.

Sirius laughed a little and scratched the back of his head nervously. "I was wondering if I should knock…in case they were dressing."

"All the more reason to simply walk in," Lefu said cheekily, ignoring the sudden killing intent that was emanating from the boy on his shoulder. He quickly opened the door and stepped past Sirius, adding in a quiet voice, "They won't blame you for what happened, Sirius."

Lefu had voiced the very reason Sirius had been hesitating. Lily and Satoki had gotten hurt because Sirius had been too afraid to think about the consequences of James regaining his memory.

And now James had become a monster.

Silently, Sirius followed after Lefu, who proceeded to make as much noise as he could after dropping Oszlár onto the nearest chair.

"Rise and shine, you two, the devilishly handsome Lefu-sama is…" Lefu began, but was cut off by the sudden appearance of a throwing dagger that buried itself into the wall several inches away from Lefu's neck. Sirius froze at the same time Lefu did, as the dagger came dangerously close to impaling his hand as it was closing the door, wondering why the dagger was so far off-target. Oszlár's eyes were wide as saucers; he had frozen halfway out of the chair Lefu had so unceremoniously dumped him in.

"Potter-san is sleeping, Ureftu," came Satoki's cold voice as she pushed back the curtain surrounding her bed. There was a similar curtain on the other side. "It would be in your best interest to remain silent."

Sirius felt a twinge of guilt when he saw the state Satoki was in. He had known her injuries were severe, much more so than Lily's, as Satoki had shielded the other woman with her own body, but to see her so swathed up in bandages, and the pain that was evident in her eyes with every movement…

It was far worse than anything Satoki had endured during the Battle of Hogwarts, even against Ulquiorra.

_I can't believe that…_James_…did something like this,_ Sirius thought to himself.

_**I find it hard to believe that he could possibly so powerful, so soon after Hollowfying and possessing so little reiatsu with which to begin,**_ Karu no Riken noted quietly, but Sirius hardly heard her.

"How…are you feeling?" he asked cautiously, wavering by the door. He was uncertain if he should approach the bed, slightly worried if he did Satoki would pelt him with innumerable hidden weapons.

Satoki turned her head so that all Sirius could see were the bandages that covered the left side of her face.

"I am well."

It was obviously a lie. Sirius could see the bandages that covered her entire left side through her hospital gown, and the fresh blood staining them. Her right arm had been easily healed, broken bones were simple to reset, but her left arm was in a sling.

Oszlár slowly walked forward until he was right beside Satoki, who didn't move. Carefully, he reached up and placed a hand on the injured side of her face.

"Satoki-san, what's wrong?" he asked quietly.

Satoki was silent for a few moments before she finally answered.

"I have lost my left eye," she said, almost in a detached way, as if she were describing someone else's injuries and not her own. "And…I no longer have feeling in my left arm. The reiatsu from James had a corrosive effect, and it is doubtful that it will ever fully heal. Even…my leg is no longer functioning correctly. The only reason I still have a little use of my leg is because part of the blast was blocked by a fallen beam."

Slowly, the hand fell from Satoki's face. Even Lefu understood the implications of such a loss. To Satoki, a perfectly functioning body was everything, especially given her 'hobby'. On the slight chance that she regained use of her hand, lack of feeling in it would severely hinder her fighting abilities. Not to mention how much a lame leg would slow her

"Satoki-san…" Oszlár said, looking down at his hands. Then he looked up, a hopeful look in his eye. "Don't worry! I've lost my right eye, but I still have my left one. I'll be your left eye, if you be my right one. And I'll always protect your left side, so it won't matter if your hand doesn't heal."

For the first time, Satoki turned to look at Oszlár. But before she could respond, Lefu ruined the moment.

"Are you proposing _already_, Shorty-chan?" Lefu suddenly exclaimed, making Oszlár jump, as though the redhead had forgotten he wasn't alone in the room. "Oh, you were practically devoting your _entire life_ to her. You sly dog, I'm almost afraid to leave you here tonight…who _knows_ what…"

The black man was forced to flee for his life as suddenly three daggers flew from Satoki's good hand, which moved so fast he barely saw the attack coming. He quickly backed into the wall behind him, each dagger burying itself up to the handle, one of them coming dangerously close to a _very_ sensitive spot.

"Dammit, woman, where the _hell_ are you keeping these things?" Lefu demanded, not daring to move for fear of provoking another attack. As it was, he was already melting under the force of two deadly killing intents. "Unohana-taicho couldn't have _possibly_ allowed you in here with all your weapons."

"_Shut. Up,"_ Satoki hissed, her eye flashing. Oszlár looked ready to strangle the black man.

Eager to find some way out of his precarious situation, Lefu looked around for Sirius to use as a scapegoat. To his surprise, Sirius was nowhere to be seen.

"Oi, where'd White go?"

OoOoOoOoO

"It was all my fault, Yamamoto-soutaicho. I dragged Bokor Oszlár, Ureftu Lefu, Potter Lily, and Moguru Satoki into this, and it's my fault that they were injured. I did not follow your orders, and now Potter James has escaped."

Sirius fell silent then, and kept his eyes fixed on the ground. He had fled the hospital after hearing about Satoki's wounds, moving so fast none of the others noticed his disappearance. The moment Sirius had left the Fourth Division, he Shunpo'd all the way to the First and demanded to see Yamamoto. He had to tell the soutaicho about what had happened before Yamamoto heard from a second-hand report. The moment Sirius had been allowed into the soutaicho's office, Sirius had fallen to his hands and knees to beg forgiveness.

Several moments of silence passed, during which neither Sirius nor Yamamoto moved from their positions. Yamamoto had his back to Sirius, and had not said a single word during the fukutaicho's report.

"This is a grave offense, Black-fukutaicho," Yamamoto said finally, still without turning. "One that is easily punishable by suspension from shinigami duties and demotion from your current rank."

Sirius winced, knowing that a heavy punishment was soon to follow. Yamamoto did not take kindly to having his orders disobeyed, especially given the current situation.

"However, I cannot afford to lose a fukutaicho so soon after gaining him," the soutaicho continued, making Sirius look up in shock. "The Soul Society has undergone many changes in the chain of command, and we have finally managed to fill our ranks. It is vital that we maintain stability in this time of chaos."

Finally, Yamamoto turned around. Sirius quickly looked back down to avoid that terrible red-eyed gaze.

"I also cannot afford to send out an entire team to exterminate Potter James. Therefore, your punishment is this. You have three months to hunt down Potter James and kill him. He cannot be allowed to run rampant. If you fail this, I will have you executed for treason, according to the laws of the Soul Society. Am I understood, Black Sirius?"

Quite frankly, Sirius was shocked that he was still alive and un-charred. He was _certain_ that Yamamoto would kill him on the spot after hearing about his blatant failure. But now…Sirius was being given another chance.

Sirius looked up. "Yes, Yamamoto-soutaicho."

_I failed everyone by not preventing this before it became a problem,_ he thought as he was dismissed and escorted from Yamamoto's office. _Satoki has been crippled because of me, and I still don't know how badly Lily was injured, but I allowed James to become a monster._

_**We cannot allow anyone else to get hurt because of our mistakes,**_ Karu no Riken said. The current situation was as much her fault as it was Sirius's, as she was a part of his very identity. She felt as though she should have done more to stop her wielder. _**We will find James…and we will kill him. It is what he would want.**_

_I know,_ Sirius thought grimly. He paused as he Shunpo'd passed the Fourth Division, heading to the Thirteenth Division barracks to tell Ukitake about his new mission and to pack. The others had probably noticed his disappearance by now, but he couldn't allow them to sacrifice themselves for his sake.

Sirius masked his reiatsu, and ran the rest of the way.

* * *

Embee: I'm so mean to my characters.

Legolas: -mutters and furiously tries to scrub off the Sharpie mustache on his face- I _know_...

Embee: Did anyone go "Awwwwww" with Oszlar? He's such a sweet little kid, I could just gobble him up! -is cuddling Oszlar-

Oszlar: -is choking- ...help...me...

Embee: I don't do sappy often, because it's _really_ not my thing...but occasionally it's necessary. And besides, it means I get to have fun ruining the moment!


	4. IV: Lefu, Mass Shinigami-Napper

_...hey look who's still alive! -dodges rotten fruit- Yeah...sorry about disappearing on you guys like that with no warning. I'm in my senior year of highschool, which means lots of FUN work that needs to be done before next summer. Try not to drown in the sarcasm. Between work, school, and trying to figure out how to pay for college next year, I've barely had time to work on my own novels, much less fanfiction. Plus, Sirius and Co. has been characternapped by the other characters in my mind and are being held hostage until I can figure out a way to get them back, meaning I can't play with them. Anyone know how to sneak past a six-headed snake god without getting killed?_

_On a more Sirius note (pun intended), enjoy the really belated chapter. I'll try to get another out soon, but don't expect much. If I can get some of the college financial information worked out before January, I might have more time (...to free my characters from captivity...), and more inspiration to write, but until then updates will be sporadic._

_To my readers who have had such patience even though I practically dropped off the face of the earth...THANK YOU! If we could meet in real life, I would glomp each and every one of you._

_-Embee_

* * *

**The Broken Veil: Lefu, Mass Shinigami-Napper**

* * *

Any intent to go and drag Sirius's sorry ass back to the hospital was forgotten when Lily awoke.

"James?" Lily asked weakly, making the other three fall silent. Satoki immediately reached over and opened up her roommate's curtain with her one good arm.

Lilly looked pale and tired, but otherwise unharmed. Her eyes widened when she saw that she was in a hospital, and saw the state of Satoki's body.

"What…happened?" Lily asked quietly.

Oszlár and Lefu swapped a worried look. They didn't know how much Lily knew about James's Hollowfication, or how she had been attacked in the first place.

"Potter-san, what do you remember?" Satoki asked, taking charge of the situation.

Lily's pretty green eyes went vacant for a moment as she tried to remember.

"Well…James and I were about to go on a walk in the forest," she began slowly, "when James had a sudden headache." As she spoke, her hand rose to touch her own head, and a brief pained expression crossed her face. Lefu frowned. "I remember turning around to help James back into the house…then…nothing." She lowered her hand to touch her stomach. "How was I hurt? Where is James?"

Satoki watched Lily silently for a few moments, then said without turning around to face the two boys,

"Get out."

For a moment, both Lefu and Oszlár were surprised. Then when Lefu saw Satoki's hand flinch towards something beneath the sheets, he quickly grabbed Oszlár by the shoulder and dragged the smaller boy out of the room.

"We're out!"

Lefu breathed a sigh of relief when he exited the room unharmed, although he was a little disconcerted to see the tips of Satoki's daggers poking through the wall. It was almost as if Satoki had seriously tried to kill him.

Turning his mind to less panicky thoughts, Lefu leered down at Oszlár.

"Already kicking you out of the room, Shorty-chan," he said. "You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

Oszlár just glared at Lefu as they waited to be let back into the room.

Inside, Satoki was carefully explaining what had happened to James. She left out no detail. Lily broke down in tears when she heard about James's mutation, her sobs wracking her entire body. Satoki reached across with her good hand to gently touch Lily on the shoulder. The two boys had been kicked out of the hospital room for just that purpose, because Satoki knew they would only get in the way when Lily started crying. Lefu would probably make a perverted comment in some strange attempt to distract her, and Oszlár would panic and try to console Lily. Either action would only make things worse.

"I grieve for you," Satoki said simply.

Finally, Lily got herself back under control, putting a hand to her stomach, which had begun aching. Her eyes were already red and puffy.

"Where…is Sirius?"

Satoki let her hand fall. "I do not know. He has disappeared and has yet to return."

"Satoki-san…I am sorry that you had to protect me," Lily said after a brief silence. "Because of that…you were terribly hurt."

Although Satoki looked unconcerned and shrugged off Lily's apology, Lily could tell how much her wounds pained her. "Do not apologize, Potter-san. You are a friend, and I am glad I could have sacrificed myself to protect such a friend." Here Satoki paused and gave Lily a rare smile. "We are the only two women in this motley group. We must stick together if we are to keep them under control."

Lily gave Satoki a half-hearted smile in return.

"You two may come in now," Satoki said, raising her voice so Lefu and Oszlár could hear her. They quickly re-entered the room, but Satoki didn't give them any time to question Lily's distraught appearance.

"Ureftu, is it possible that there are symptoms of this mutation that can alert us to it happening again?" Satoki asked.

Lefu looked thoughtful. "Probably. Why?"

Satoki looked back at Lily. "Potter-san, please describe how Potter-san acted in this past month."

"Oi, at least make some kind of distinction between them," Lefu said with a scowl. "How are we supposed to tell the difference?"

He was ignored.

Lily nodded. "He has been complaining of headaches for some weeks now, but it was only recently that they started to become more severe. He has also caught several colds, one right after the other, but they were very different than normal colds. The colds did something to his eyes and voice, darkening his irises and hurting his throat so he could barely talk. And when he did…" Lily shuddered. "He sounded…_dark_. These colds could come on suddenly, and disappear just as fast, so much that sometimes James would be fine for one hour and sicker than a dog the next."

"What about you, Potter-san?" Satoki continued. "Have you experienced anything similar in the past months?"

Lily smiled a little weakly. "Just a few headaches, but they are probably from the little rest I've gotten lately, having to take care of James."

Lefu felt his blood run cold. Now he knew why Satoki was asking these questions. The symptoms James had been showing could easily have been early-warning signs of his Hollowfication. If Lily were showing similar signs…then she could be doomed for the same fate.

_It would make sense, Lily regained her memories _after_ James,_ Lefu thought. _So she would start Hollowfication after him._

"Well, I'm sure that resting up here will stop those headaches," Lefu lied easily. "Shorty and I will leave you two pretty ladies to your beauty sleep."

Before Oszlár could protest (or Satoki find some more projectiles), Lefu dragged the redhead out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Lefu quickly looked over his companion, and frowned when he saw that Oszlár was still looking very weak.

So Lefu once again did the logical thing and kidnapped Oszlár.

"What the hell are you doing?" Oszlár demanded as Lefu carried him back down the halls. By this point, everyone they passed simply ignored them.

"You need your beauty sleep too, Shorty-hime," Lefu teased, and then threw Oszlár unceremoniously onto the bed. "I'm going to find White, so you just _stay put_."

As he spoke, Lefu pulled out a small mechanical device and clicked a button before sticking it to Oszlár's forehead.

"What…are you…doing…" Oszlár tried to say, but he was asleep before he could finish his question.

Lefu smiled. Ah, the perks of having full access to an entire research facility (even if most of that access had to come through illicit means). Not wanting to waste any more time by walking through the building like a normal person, Lefu simply walked over to the window and jumped out.

Hallways were for squares, anyway.

OoOoOoOoO

"I see," Ukitake said after hearing Sirius's story. "Then you will be leaving immediately?"

Sirius nodded. "Yes, Ukitake-taicho. I will most likely not return at all until…my mission is complete."

Ukitaki was silent for a moment. "Sirius…good luck. I pray that you…will have the strength you need to succeed. You must regain your friend's lost pride."

"Thank you, Ukitake-taicho."

"I also…must apologize," Ukitake said slowly. "It was I who convinced Yamamoto-sensei to allow you be the one to…kill your friend. I had thought that you would rather do it yourself."

At this point, Sirius was beyond feeling any kind of emotion. "Do not apologize, Ukitake-taicho. It was my own fault for not being strong enough to stop him."

After being dismissed from the Thirteenth Division office, Sirius quickly packed. He briefly considered filing for a Gigai, but then decided that trying to obtain one would take too long, and he might run into Lefu, something he was trying to avoid. Plus, he doubted he would need to contact any mortals. It didn't take him long to be ready to leave.

If Sirius was hoping to get out of the Soul Society without being caught by any of his friends, he was sorely mistaken. He hadn't even made it halfway through the Seireitei before Lefu found him.

"How the _hell_ did you find me?" Sirius asked incredulously when Lefu appeared out of nowhere and tackled him from behind.

Lefu punched Sirius in the stomach, making him bend over in pain. Ignoring the startled looks from the innocent bystanders, he then proceeded to sling Sirius over his shoulders.

"Worry not, it's just a fukutaicho-napping," Lefu said with a cocky grin. As he disappeared with his captive, many people (mostly passing wizards) wondered if they should do something to help. The native shinigami quickly assured their guests that such a thing was a common occurrence, and it was generally a good idea to pretend it never happened.

"Lefu, put me down!" Sirius demanded, although he highly doubted Lefu would follow the order. "How did you find me in the first place, I had my reiatsu masked and everything," he repeated instead, hoping to discover how to avoid detection next time.

Lefu gave his captive a pitying look. "Oh you poor, naive White. I've been stalking you for over six months now. A petty little thing like suppressing your reiatsu can't hide yourself from me!"

Sirius felt very, very disturbed, and even Karu no Riken was struck dumb with shock.

"Hey, it was either me or Kurotsuchi-taicho!"

Somehow that didn't make Sirius feel any better.

"You know, Goldmane, there are some things better left _unsaid_," Sirius complained. "Now I'm going to have nightmares about you following me."

Lefu just laughed.

"What _I_ want to know, White, is why you thought you could go gallivanting off on your secret mission without telling us," he said, holding up the bag Sirius had packed. Sirius hadn't even realised Lefu had taken it.

"I'm not going to ask how you know that," Sirius answered.

"Hidden cameras are very handy little devices," Lefu laughed, and then suddenly turned serious. "We're your friends, Sirius. You should be able to trust us. It's not heroic that you're trying to protect us by doing this mission on your own, it's stupid. We can take care of ourselves, and we'd be happy to sacrifice our safety to help you. Do you really think Satoki would have risked her life to save Lily if she didn't care? Or last year, would Oszlár have given his eye if he hadn't wanted to help?"

Sirius was silent, and Lefu took that as a cue to continue.

"You're not forcing us to do anything, so don't you dare think it's your fault if we get hurt. We're _choosing_ to help you, and to help James. What kind of friends would we be if we let you go on your own?"

Lefu stopped on top of a building before entering the Fourth Division and released Sirius, who fell to the ground in a tangled heap. The black man smiled and held out a hand.

"We're going to help you find James, Sirius," he said. "And we're _all _going to return to the Soul Society, un-Hollowfied and in one piece."

After realising that Lefu was right, Sirius grinned and reached up to allow Lefu to pull him to his feet.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Just don't make me spout philosophical crap again. Next thing you know, I'll be singing songs and pooping rainbows."

Sirius rolled his eyes and laughed. "Remember what I said about 'things better left unsaid?"

OoOoOoOoO

Sirius was very glad to re-enter the hospital on his own two feet, instead of being dragged through by Lefu. He was a fukutaicho, after all, and he had to keep up appearances.

"You go ahead into Shorty's room," Lefu said when they reached the landing. To the relief of the hospital workers, they had simply walked through the hallways. "I'm going to get Demon-Girl."

Before Sirius could warn Lefu about the danger of such an action, or ask _why_ he was doing such a stupid thing, Lefu had already started walking down the hall. Shrugging, Sirius simply decided to pick up the pieces once Satoki was finished.

He was a little surprised to find that Oszlár was dead asleep, until he saw the small device attached to Oszlár's forehead. Sirius grinned and knocked it off. Almost immediately, Oszlár shot up. He blinked for a few moments, before his face darkened.

"I'm going to _kill_ him," Oszlár muttered dangerously, before noticing that Sirius was in the room. "Padfoot!"

And then Oszlár punched Sirius, who winced. For a supposedly injured kid, he could pack a heavy punch.

"That's for ditching us," Oszlár growled. "Where the hell did you go?"

Sirius pouted. "I thought you were _injured_," he complained. "You seem perfectly fine to me."

Oszlár froze for a moment, and then suddenly stiffened. "I was…just overwhelmed by the reiatsu."

Sirius highly doubted that. The redhead had done fine during the Battle of Hogwarts, when there was so much reiatsu flooding the place the space was warped for weeks. He was prevented from interrogating Oszlár by the rather loud arrival of Lefu and Satoki.

As Satoki had been unwilling to leave Lily, although the former witch was sleeping peacefully, Lefu had simply dragged her bed through the hall. Satoki looked less than pleased, but Sirius was amused to find that somehow her one good hand had been tied to the bed, and thus she could launch no attacks on her captor.

"You're going to get us _killed_," Oszlár deadpanned. "I am not bailing you out when Unohana-taicho hears that you've been disturbing her hospital."

Lefu shrugged, surprisingly unconcerned.

"Eh, I'll just hide in my lab. If all else fails, I can always blame you, Shorty."

Oszlár's face turned red, but Satoki interrupted his protest.

"If it is…_agreeable_," she began in a dangerous tone. Sirius made a mental note to make himself scarce when Satoki was released from the hospital, "kindly explain to us why you have gathered us here, Ureftu."

The black man nodded seriously and pulled up a chair.

"White's been given the mission to track down James and kill him," he began without any preamble. "He _tried_ sneaking off to do it on his own, but I convinced him to accept our help."

Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _If_ that_ was convincing, I'd hate to see demanding._

"He has three months to kill James, and if he can't, he'll be executed for treason," Lefu continued. It was in no way surprising to Sirius that Lefu knew the details, despite Sirius not telling him. "That gives us three months to find a way to reverse the Hollowfication and bring James back alive."

Oszlár interrupted. "But Hollowfication is irreversible, and it's going to be hard enough simply keeping _ourselves_ alive."

"I know, but…I don't think James when through a true Hollowfication process," Lefu answered, to the shock of his listeners. "The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent. His mutation was like no other documented Hollowfication, even that of Kurosaki Ichigo. And James's reiatsu was vastly different from any Hollow. There's a _slight_ chance that we might be able to undo the damage."

"Then we'll take that chance," Sirius said immediately. "No matter how small, it's better than nothing."

Lefu nodded. "I know. But Sirius…Lily's starting to show the same signs James did before he Hollowfied."

Sirius turned pale.

"I don't know what's causing their Hollowfication rate to accelerate so much," Lefu lied, not wanting Sirius to blame himself even more. He knew that Sirius could very well be the reason for their accelerated mutation. "But I intend to find out. I can place Lily in a stasis, which should slow down the process."

"We have three months to find Potter-san and a way to reverse his mutation, and three months to find a way to stop Potter-san's own impending Hollowfication, correct?" Satoki said, wiggling her now-free hand to regain feeling. It was very embarrassing that she had allowed Lefu to trick her. "I see one problem with that plan. How are we to find Potter-san? He has disappeared, and has obviously masked his reiatsu."

Lefu grinned. "This is what we're going to do. I'll stay behind to monitor Lily, while you three look for James. I'll give you something to track his reiatsu. This way, I'll have access to whatever information and machines we need, and you three will still be able to easily contact the Soul Society. Sound good?"

All three nodded. Sirius, for the first time since seeing James degenerate into a monster, felt a ray of hope. He had a chance to fix his mistake.

"Good," the black man continued. "You two spend the rest of the day resting up, and White will talk to Unohana-taicho to see if speed up the healing process." Sirius once again turned pale, this time at the thought of approaching the Fourth Division taicho, especially given his earlier behaviour in her hospital. "I'll go collect the things you'll need and set up my lab to keep Lily. First thing tomorrow morning, you three will set out."

And with that, the plan was set into motion. Oszlár and Satoki were left to rest (Lefu conveniently forgot to put Satoki's bed back), Sirius went to approach Unohana-taicho, and Lefu disappeared into the Twelfth Division.

They were going to get James back, or die trying.

* * *

_P.S. If anyone has any information on financial aid for homeschooled students, particularly in Texas, or even any writing contests, please let me know. There's a college I really want to go to, but I need to raise some money for it. Any help is much appreciated._


	5. V: Difficult Decisions

_Yo! It's me again. Still horribly busy with school and all that...hopefully I'll have more time to write over Christmas break...but because today's my birthday and I!'m in a good mood, I decided I would post a chapter anyway. SO YAY FOR BIRTHDAYS!_

_-Embee_

* * *

**The Broken Veil: Difficult Decisions**

* * *

Although Oszlár was released the from the hospital the very next day, it took three days for Satoki to finally appear, and during that time she refused to see anyone, not even Oszlár. Those three days were the most nerve-wracking of Sirius's entire afterlife, as he had promised to wait until everyone was fully prepared before dashing off to find James. Lily was also released early, and then immediately taken into custody by Lefu. It was decided that she not be told that she was possibly beginning a Hollowfication process. She didn't even know that she was being placed in a stasis. As much as Sirius hated lying to his best friend's wife, he knew it was for her own good.

When they finally received word that Satoki was getting released, Sirius and Oszlár were waiting. Everything was ready, and Lefu was currently settling the now-comatose Lily into his private lab, away from the prying eyes of Kurotsuchi.

Oszlár let out a gasp of shock when he saw Satoki.

Satoki's left arm, which had been so horribly wounded, was gone. Sirius had been _sure_ she still had it last time he saw her…but then again, he hadn't been paying very close attention. Her uniform covered up any sign of her injuries on the rest of her body, but Sirius could see her blackened skin extending down from the large eye-patch that covered her ruined eye.

Without looking at either of them, Satoki started limping and slipped right between them.

"You will have to begin the search without me," she said simply.

Finally Oszlár regained use of his tongue, and he hurried to catch up with Satoki.

"Satoki-san, what…_happened_?" he asked hesitantly, trying not to look at the scarily-empty sleeve.

Satoki shrugged, and Sirius thought it looked very strange without the second arm to do the movement.

"I could no longer use it, so I asked that it be removed."

Inwardly, Sirius was impressed that Satoki had the strength to make such a decision. But how would it affect her fighting ability?

Before Sirius could even begin to think about asking her, Satoki abruptly stopped.

"You will begin the search without me," she repeated. "You do not have the luxury of wasting time, as Potter-san's trail grows cold with every passing minute. I will catch up with you in one week's time."

And with that, she vanished, Shunpo'ing away before either Oszlár or Sirius could stop her. Even with one working leg she was still little more than a blur.

For a few moments, they stood in a shocked silence. Then Oszlár broke it by swearing heavily.

"She didn't even _tell_ us what she intended to do!" he exclaimed, clenching his fists. "She must have decided to get her arm removed after I was discharged…but I had promised to help her…"

Sirius, although still a little confused by what had just happened, stepped up to place a comforting hand on his smaller friend's shoulder.

"Satoki's a strong girl. She knew having an arm she couldn't move would only hinder her," Sirius said. "I'm sure she just didn't want to worry us."

Oszlár nodded, but Sirius wasn't too sure if the redhead actually heard anything he had said.

"Now let's go. Like Satoki said, we don't have any time to waste."

OoOoOoOoO

Lefu wasn't sure what surprised him more: the fact that Satoki knew where to find him despite Lefu never telling her where his personal lab was, or the fact that she had _politely_ asked to be admitted instead of cracking his security measures and appearing unannounced.

He realised just _why_ when he saw her.

"What happened to your arm?" Lefu asked, staring openly at her empty sleeve. The rest of her looked like crap, especially now that half her face was covered with a black eye-patch, but the most disturbing result of the attack was Satoki's missing arm.

"It could no longer serve me, so I removed it," Satoki answered, as though she were describing a blade that had broken. "I have come with…a request for you."

Now Lefu was interested. If seeing Satoki entre a building legally was rare, then hearing her ask _him_, Lefu, the number one person Satoki would love to throw off the nearest skyscraper, but doesn't because of possible friendly-friend relations through Oszlár, for _help_ was even rarer.

"Yes?" he asked carefully.

Satoki fixed him with a hard stare. "I need you to make me a new arm, a new eye, and do whatever it takes to repair my leg in seven days."

For a few moments, Lefu was silent with shock.

"I will not be able to fight at my best crippled like this," Satoki said. "I have no intention of remaining so weak; however there was nothing I could do to restore my limbs. I know that you are…_skilled_ in the sciences, and I would assume that you have some idea of how to complete my request."

Even as Satoki was speaking, the gears in Lefu's mind were already turning, coming up with ways to design a prosthetic arm that could still function just as well as a natural arm, as well as a fake eye. The leg would be a little harder…as Satoki hadn't completely lost it… He had quite a bit of data stolen from the human world, ideas and patents formed by humans themselves…with a little more research he could have the information he needed…

"Yes, I can do it," Lefu said, noting with interest that a brief flash of relief crossed Satoki's usually impassive face. So she _had_ had a slight twinge of doubt in his abilities. "But," he said, holding up a finger, "I have to warn you. It's going to be painful, _very_ painful. If I were doing this for anyone else, I would refuse to let them do anything strenuous for at _least_ a year. I'm going to have to rewire your entire nervous system, and possibly regrow your skin. Are you willing to withstand that?"

Satoki nodded without any hesitation.

"Do it."

OoOoOoOoO

The journey to the East 80th District was a silent one. Oszlár was still worrying about Satoki, while Sirius was trying to figure out just how he was going to track down James. Lefu had assured him that the devices he had given Sirius would be able follow James's reiatsu, as it was impossible to completely mask one's spiritual presence completely without some sort of artificial aid.

But the one thing that really worried Sirius was the possibility of James escaping to the mortal world. The allied army was stretched thin as it was, fighting on two fronts, and the last thing they needed was a third threat.

Signs of the current war could be seen in every District of Rukongai. Even the nicer Districts were rapidly filling with lost souls. Some of the older shinigami Sirius had spoken to said that they hadn't seen such an influx of the dead since the last human World War.

Sirius gritted his teeth and pushed himself to Shunpo faster. The sooner he could find James, the sooner he could get back to the war and help _stop_ it.

James's hut was exactly the same as it had been when Sirius had last seen it, when Oszlár, Satoki, and Lily were being taken away by the Fourth Division for their wounds. The hut itself was in shambles, its wood burnt and cracking. The scorched earth surrounding the crater was untouched, and Sirius guessed that the remnants of James's twisted reiatsu had kept vandals at bay. Even four days after the Hollowfication, the reiatsu was strong enough to make Sirius gag, and Oszlár immediately turned pale.

_**Bokor Oszlár may prove to be a hindrance if even this low level of reiatsu is enough to make him sick,**_ Karu no Riken said over Sirius's concern for his smaller friend. _**You may refuse to consider it, but I know that you realise the truth of my words.**_

_I am not leaving him behind!_ Sirius said stubbornly. _I need someone to back me up in this, and with Satoki out of commission for Merlin knows how long, Oszlár is all I have. Raishika's a long-range weapon anyway, so if worse comes to worse he can just hang back and attack from afar. Besides, maybe he's just tired from his recent mission in Germany. He can handle high reiatsu._

Although it was obvious what his Zanpakutou thought, she said nothing else on the matter.

They only paused long enough to collect some of James's reiatsu with Lefu's device before retreating a safe distance and contacting the scientist.

"Alright, Lefu, we have the reiatsu," Sirius said, adjusting the headset slightly. Oszlár was wearing a similar device, to allow them both to speak with Lefu in his lab. "You need at least half a bottle, right?"

"I can't believe _that's_ reiatsu," Oszlár said, poking at the bottle in Sirius's hand. After being sucked into the bottle and greatly condensed, the reiatsu resembled a sickly-looking dark green blob of partially-solid liquid.

"_Yup, half a bottle. Now you need to attach it to the spatial displacement transmitter,"_ Lefu's voice came from their headsets. _"It's the gourd-shaped one…with the yellow handle…"_

Sirius was very thankful that he had forced Lefu to label all of the equipment before setting out, otherwise it would have taken him much longer to find the device Lefu needed. He pulled out the device from his backpack, and screwed the bottle onto it.

"Now what?"

There was a pause, and Sirius could faintly hear the sound of various buttons being pressed.

"_Now you send me the reiatsu,"_ Lefu answered. _"Press the button on the bottom of the transmitter, and hold it for about three seconds, or until all the reiatsu is gone. I don't know how long that will take…"_

Sirius pressed the button, and he and Oszlár watched as the reiatsu in the bottle was slowly sucked into the transmitter. They waited for several minutes until it was finally empty.

"_Holy shit!"_

Oszlár winced and hurriedly pulled the headset away from his ears.

"Do remember that we can hear you _very_ clearly," he growled, scowling.

"_Oh, sorry about that…"_ Lefu said almost distractedly. The sound of furious typing, and several more expletives, came through the headset, until finally the man on the other end sighed with relief. _"That was a hell of a lot more potent than I had guessed. Actually, I'm surprised that you managed to get this much after three days' worth of dissipation. Are you sure that this is pure reiatsu, and that this wasn't contaminated by anything else?"_

"Yes," Oszlár answered. "There is no sign of anyone coming near here for the past three days. I think the dark reiatsu scared people away."

"_Hmmm…I'll have to do some more study on this…for now, I'm going to send you a signal. White, take out the reiatsu tracker and the radio. Plug the radio into the tracker and set it to channel 58."_

Although he was itching to start chasing after James, Sirius knew better than to try and hurry Lefu, as it would only make him move slower. Instead, he obediently followed Lefu's instructions.

"_The tip of the antenna should start blinking soon, and once it does, you can unplug the radio and put it away,"_ Lefu said. Not a moment later, the antenna began to blink. _"Keep the tracker out. It has a reading of James's reiatsu, and that's how you'll be tracking him down. Press the button right below the screen to turn it on, but don't mess with any of the other buttons!"_

Sirius thought it was a good thing he only needed to press one button. There were far too many buttons on it, making the tracker look more like some diabolical remote.

"_The screen will give you a basic map of the surrounding area for about ten meters, and it will show you which direction to go. I'll have a more detailed map back here at the lab so I can track your movements. If you get within ten metres of any large collection of James's reiatsu, the tracker will vibrate. When it does, let me know."_

"I may need to ask you about all that again in ten minutes," Sirius said with a grin.

"_And that's why I'm here holding the fort, otherwise you'd go running off the nearest cliff,"_ Lefu answered, ignoring Oszlár's protests that _he,_ at least, was smarter than that. _"Do keep in mind that I still have other jobs that need doing, so don't start pulling all nighters! I need my beauty sleep."_

"Fat lot of good that will do you," Oszlár muttered, forgetting that Lefu could hear every word.

"_I'm offended, Shorty."_

Sirius laughed, and then turned on the tracker. It immediately began vibrating so hard that Sirius nearly dropped it.

"_Wait until you're _away_ from there to turn it on! That's going to mess up the reading!" _Lefu shouted.

"Oh…yeah…" Sirius said, hurriedly turning off the tracker.

"_I fear for the outcome of this mission."_

"Oh shut up."

Sirius and Oszlár waited until they were several yards from the site of James's Hollowfication before turning the tracker back on.

"Nothing's happening," Sirius said, staring at the blank screen of the tracker.

"_Assuming that James didn't go towards the Rukongai, he could have gone in any direction between north and south. If he used Sonído, then the first trace of reiatsu we find could very well be several miles away from the site. Start sweeping."_

With a sigh, Sirius nodded. He and Oszlár began a meticulous sweep, running back and forth along every angle that James could have fled. The sun was nearly below the horizon by the time they finally got a signal.

Sirius looked down at the screen of the tracker, which showed a light drawing of the forest before them. A darker string of dots showed the approximate trail that James's reiatsu had left behind. Finally, after more than three days of preparation, he was about to truly embark on his mission.

And still he hesitated. The moment he started off through the forest, he would have to accept the fact that he was marching off to kill James. Sirius had no way of knowing if Lefu really had a way to reverse the Hollowfication, or even if James would reincarnate. Killing him a second time, as a Hollow, could easily render him truly dead. Either way, it would mean that he would have to take away Harry's father, and Lily's husband, again.

Oszlár, seeing Sirius's inner turmoil, took the first step into their mission. Unbeknownst to Sirius, the small redhead had already made a vow to himself that when they finally found James, _he_ would be the one to kill him, to spare Sirius the pain of murdering his best friend.

"Let's go," Oszlár said softly, disappearing into the shadows of the forest, Sirius following behind him.

* * *

_If you think this is torture for my characters...you should see what I do to some of the others. One poor guy's had his entire clan massacred and was pretty much ostracised from his whole nation, despite the fact he saved them! I should probably feel bad...but oh well~_

_Legolas: You have no shame, nor remorse._

_Nope~_


End file.
